︎

 Chop Wood Carry Water



a lo-fi, land-based residency and retreat for
individuals and groups of creatives, researchers, and ecological stewards


Chop Wood Carry Water hosts a Spring session and a Fall session.
applicants may choose between 4 day and 10 day residencies.
~
Spring 2026 session will run from June 04 - 14
Fall 2026 session will run from Septemeber 25 - October 03
8 residents will be accepted per session
~
A maximum of 5 people will be in residency at a given time.
This limitation is intended to allow for a balanced experience between the phyiscal space necessary to be fully present on the land
and the opportunity to spend quality time with fellow residents.




Chop Wood Carry Water does not require or expect anything - even that you be an artist -
except respect and gratitude towards the land and all of its animal, vegetal, elemental, and human inhabitants. The experience is about cultivating presence, curiosity, reciprocity, and a sense of independence within and among community-based living.

This residency is for generating creativity outside the pressures of productivity. While many have taken their experience and applied it to larger visions, works, and aspirations in their daily or professional lives, locating oneself, inspirations, and generative impulses in the immediate environment is the true purpose.

Many guests arrive with materials they plan to use, work they plan to make during their stay, only to become completely immersed in contemplation on the breadth of the landscape or in returning to a specific site in the woods or sifting through a pile of metal scraps; their whole stay becomes about finding connection and response to what already exists around them.

Installations, objects, imprints of former residents are all around the land for the host to visit: witnessing their change with time and weather. While the evidence of some visitors is intangible but absolutely discernible; the contribution of time, care, concentration, intention remains and resonates. Many people have used their time here simply to clear out the noise of modern life and to make the space necessary to hear themselves in concert with that of the environment.

Conversation, movement, research, walking, writing, reading, furniture making, weaving, printing, performing, filming, painting, building, on-site installation, sculpture, kayaking, ceramics, animation, soil study, dancing, biking, experimentation with and processing of natural and local materials are all modes explored and expanded upon by past residents.


poster 
application due: April 1 
application fee: $45 
If your application is accepted, this fee is applied to the residency cost.
If your application is not selected, this fee will be refunded.
* There are no refunds for cancelations.  *

access the full CWCW description
and application here:


 
Applications are to assess if Chop Wood Carry Water’s lo-fi,
land-based structure is a good fit for you.
There is no jurying of your past work.

All genders, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, races, and ethnicities are welcome as Chop Wood Carry Water residents.












 Ji Yang attended the Fall session of 2022. Yang reflects on  his experience of new daily rhythms - personal and communal - and the significance of ending a day sitting at a campfire with fellow residents, telling stories, sharing meals, and stargazing. 



Aya Nakamura (@ayasembe) attended the Chop Wood Carry Water residency in the fall of 2022. Here, she recounts some of her experiences drawing in the prairie. Nakamura’s drawings are colored pencil on handmade paper of different sizes and shapes. She states, “they have a physicality and assert themselves during the drawing process. They are meditations on death and metaphysics, and provide space for questioning, grief, memorial, humor, and healing.”



Kristin Abhalter Smith discusses  the connection between working with the land of Pachamanka and being creative. Abhalter Smith is an artist and the Executive Director of Roman Susan, an art foundation that “celebrates and shares the work of artists in the Great Lakes Region.” She attended the Chop Wood Carry Water Residency in the Fall of 2022.

all videos were filmed and edited by Megan Diddie and Tim Hogan





2021–2025 CWCW resident list

︎ Kristin Abthaler-Smith, builder/gallerist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Gwyneth Zeleny Anderson, animator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Rae Atapka, poet (Lawrence, KS)
︎ Katie Bettin, farmer (Omaha, NE)
︎ Aradia Blackburn, textile artist (Chicago, IL)
︎Simone Boerger, mapmaker/musician (Bloomington IL)
︎ Lorene Bouboushian, dancer/noise artist (Chicago, IL)
︎moll caffey, papermaker/writer
(Kansas City MO)
︎ Brook Celeste, actor/writer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Anjal Chande, curator/dancer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Lydia Cheshewalla, sculptor (Pawhuska, OK)
︎ Kate Dessofy, dancer (Chicago, IL)
︎Megan Diaz, ceramicist (Chicago IL)
︎ Paul Dickenson, sound artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Megan Diddie, multimedia artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Susannah Donne, florist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Hannah Crea Frink, ceramicist
(Bar Harbor, ME)
︎ Miguel Gajdos, designer (New York, NY)
︎ L. Goldstein, poet (Chicago, IL)
︎ Adam Grossi, writer/painter (Reston, VA)
︎ M.B. Hackleman, activist (Joshua Tree, CA)
︎Corey Hagelberg, woodworker (Gary IN)
︎ Carl Harders, herbalist (Los Angeles, CA)
︎ Deirdre Harrison, archivist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Sara Heyman, librarian/curator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jess Hicks, painter/fashion designer (Brooklyn, NY)
︎ Serena Hochoroen, woodworker/animator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Tim Hogan, writer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Anna Ialeggio, performer (Ithaca, NY)
︎ Layne Jackson, painter (Chicago, IL)
︎ Javier Jasso, sculptor/ceramicist
(Chicago, IL)
︎ Jessica Johanson, florist/farmer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Breanne Johnson, furniture maker
(Detroit, MI)
︎ Virginia Kennard, performer/dancer (Auckland, NZ)
︎ Jennifer Karmin, poet (Chicago, IL)
︎ Rob Kelly, builder (Chicago, IL)
︎ Liv Koreman, ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jen Langkammer, educator (Milwaukee, WI)
︎Max Lasswell, photographer (Coralville IA)
︎ Lucky Li, landscape architect/papermaker (Hartford, CT)
︎ Hope Lian-Vinson, brick maker (Kansas City, MO)
︎ Julian de Lindgren, illustrator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Tanner McCleerey, woodworker/software engineer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Ethan McGinnis, sculptor/installation artist (Boulder, CO)
︎Abena Motaboli, pigment maker (Chicago IL)
︎ Cole Murphy, software engineer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Aya Nakamura, painter/papermaker
(Chicago, IL)
︎ Paige Naylor, sound artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Blake Nemec, poet/somatic teache
(Chicago, IL)
︎ Ronan Nigh, fabric artist (Denver, CO)
︎Clare (Lary) Odegard, basket-maker
(Kansas City, MO)
︎ John O’Malley, carpenter (Chicago, IL)
︎ Toby Meyer, sculptor (Los Angeles, CA)
︎Melissa Oresky, painter (Bloomington IL)
︎ Parissa Ott, illustrator (Atlanta, GA)
︎ Eugenia Ozerova, ceramicist
(Los Angeles, CA)
︎ Elizabeth Phillips, paper maker/illustrator (Brooklyn, NY)
︎ Jeff Prokash, furniture maker (Chicago, IL)
︎ Rae Red, performer/animator (Baltimore, MD)
︎Olivia Ridge, ceramicist (Milwaukee WI)
︎ Megan Robertson, physical therapist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Alyssa Rooks, baker (Madison, WI)
︎ Nathan Rutz, composter (Cleveland, OH)
︎ Chris Salas, ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Phera Singh, basket maker (Chicago, IL)
︎ David Sprecher, sculptor (Chicago, IL)
︎ Audrey Todd, outdoor educator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Patrick Wojtak, psychologist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Ji Yang, photographer/filmaker (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jo Covers, ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Sara Zalek, movement artist/musician (Chicago, IL)


access the full CWCW description and application here:
Applications are to assess if Chop Wood Carry Water’s lo-fi,
land-based structure is a good fit for you.
There is no jurying of your past work.

All genders, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, races, and ethnicities are welcome as Chop Wood Carry Water residents.

 Chop Wood Carry Water



a lo-fi, land-based residency and retreat for individuals and groups of creatives, researchers,
and ecological stewards



Chop Wood Carry Water hosts a Spring session and a Fall session.
applicants may choose between 4 day and 10 day residencies.
~
Spring 2026 session will run from June 04 - 14
Fall 2026 session will run from Septemeber 25 - October 03
8 residents accepted per session
~
A maximum of 5 people will be in residency at a given time.
This limitation is intended to allow for a balanced experience between the phyiscal space necessary
to be present on the land
and the opportunity to spend quality time with fellow residents.




Chop Wood Carry Water does not require or expect anything - even that you be an artist -
except respect and gratitude towards the land and all of its animal, vegetal, elemental, and human inhabitants. The experience is about cultivating presence, curiosity, reciprocity, and a sense of independence within and among community-based living.

This residency is for generating creativity outside the pressures of productivity. While many have taken their experience and applied it to larger visions, works, and aspirations in their daily or professional lives, locating oneself, inspirations, and generative impulses in the immediate environment is the true purpose.

Many guests arrive with materials they plan to use, work they plan to make during their stay, only to become completely immersed in contemplation on the breadth of the landscape or in returning to a specific site in the woods or sifting through a pile of metal scraps; their whole stay becomes about finding connection and response to what already exists around them.

Installations, objects, imprints of former residents are all around the land for the host to visit: witnessing their change with time and weather. While the evidence of some visitors is intangible but absolutely discernible; the contribution of time, care, concentration, intention remains and resonates. Many people have used their time here simply to clear out the noise of modern life and to make the space necessary to hear themselves in concert with that of the environment.

Conversation, movement, research, walking, writing, reading, furniture making, weaving, printing, performing, filming, painting, building, on-site installation, sculpture, kayaking, ceramics, animation, soil study, dancing, biking, experimentation with and processing of natural and local materials are all modes explored and expanded upon by past residents.


poster application due: April 1 
application fee: $45
If your application is accepted, this fee is applied to the residency cost.
If your application is not selected, this fee will be refunded.
* There are no refunds for cancelations. *

access the full CWCW description
and application here:


CWCW DESCRIPTION



 
Applications are to assess if
Chop Wood Carry Water’s
lo-fi, land-based structure is a good fit for you.
There is no jurying of your past work.

All genders, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, races, and ethnicities are welcome as Chop Wood Carry Water residents.



all videos were filmed and edited by Megan Diddie and Tim Hogan




 Ji Yang attended the Fall session of 2022. Yang reflects on  his experience of new daily rhythms - personal and communal - and the significance of ending a day sitting at a campfire with fellow residents, telling stories, sharing meals, and stargazing. 


Aya Nakamura (@ayasembe) attended the Chop Wood Carry Water residency in the fall of 2022. Here, she recounts some of her experiences drawing in the prairie. Nakamura’s drawings are colored pencil on handmade paper of different sizes and shapes. She states, “they have a physicality and assert themselves during the drawing process. They are meditations on death and metaphysics, and provide space for questioning, grief, memorial, humor, and healing.”


Kristin Abhalter Smith discusses  the connection between working with the land of Pachamanka and being creative. Abhalter Smith is an artist and the Executive Director of Roman Susan, an art foundation that “celebrates and shares the work of artists in the Great Lakes Region.” She attended the Chop Wood Carry Water Residency in the Fall of 2022.






2021–2025 CWCW resident list

︎ Kristin Abthaler-Smith, builder/gallerist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Gwyneth Zeleny Anderson, animator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Rae Atapka, poet (Lawrence, KS)
︎ Katie Bettin, farmer (Omaha, NE)
︎ Aradia Blackburn, textile artist (Chicago, IL)
︎Simone Boerger, mapmaker/musician (Bloomington IL)
︎ Lorene Bouboushian, dancer/noise artist (Chicago, IL)
︎moll caffey, papermaker/writer
(Kansas City MO)
︎ Brook Celeste, actor/writer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Anjal Chande, curator/dancer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Lydia Cheshewalla, sculptor (Pawhuska, OK)
︎ Kate Dessofy, dancer (Chicago, IL)
︎Megan Diaz, ceramicist (Chicago IL)
︎ Paul Dickenson, sound artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Megan Diddie, multimedia artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Susannah Donne, florist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Hannah Crea Frink, ceramicist
(Bar Harbor, ME)
︎ Miguel Gajdos, designer (New York, NY)
︎ L. Goldstein, poet (Chicago, IL)
︎ Adam Grossi, writer/painter (Reston, VA)
︎ M.B. Hackleman, activist (Joshua Tree, CA)
︎Corey Hagelberg, woodworker (Gary IN)
︎ Carl Harders, herbalist (Los Angeles, CA)
︎ Deirdre Harrison, archivist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Sara Heyman, librarian/curator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jess Hicks, painter/fashion designer (Brooklyn, NY)
︎ Serena Hochoroen, woodworker/animator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Tim Hogan, writer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Anna Ialeggio, performer (Ithaca, NY)
︎ Layne Jackson, painter (Chicago, IL)
︎ Javier Jasso, sculptor/ceramicist
(Chicago, IL)
︎ Jessica Johanson, florist/farmer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Breanne Johnson, furniture maker
(Detroit, MI)
︎ Virginia Kennard, performer/dancer (Auckland, NZ)
︎ Jennifer Karmin, poet (Chicago, IL)
︎ Rob Kelly, builder (Chicago, IL)
︎ Liv Koreman, ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jen Langkammer, educator (Milwaukee, WI)
︎Max Lasswell, photographer (Coralville IA)
︎ Lucky Li, landscape architect/papermaker (Hartford, CT)
︎ Hope Lian-Vinson, brick maker (Kansas City, MO)
︎ Julian de Lindgren, illustrator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Tanner McCleerey, woodworker/software engineer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Ethan McGinnis, sculptor/installation artist (Boulder, CO)
︎Abena Motaboli, pigment maker (Chicago IL)
︎ Cole Murphy, software engineer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Aya Nakamura, painter/papermaker
(Chicago, IL)
︎ Paige Naylor, sound artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Blake Nemec, poet/somatic teache
(Chicago, IL)
︎ Ronan Nigh, fabric artist (Denver, CO)
︎Clare (Lary) Odegard, basket-maker
(Kansas City, MO)
︎ John O’Malley, carpenter (Chicago, IL)
︎ Toby Meyer, sculptor (Los Angeles, CA)
︎Melissa Oresky, painter (Bloomington IL)
︎ Parissa Ott, illustrator (Atlanta, GA)
︎ Eugenia Ozerova, ceramicist
(Los Angeles, CA)
︎ Elizabeth Phillips, paper maker/illustrator (Brooklyn, NY)
︎ Jeff Prokash, furniture maker (Chicago, IL)
︎ Rae Red, performer/animator (Baltimore, MD)
︎Olivia Ridge, ceramicist (Milwaukee WI)
︎ Megan Robertson, physical therapist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Alyssa Rooks, baker (Madison, WI)
︎ Nathan Rutz, composter (Cleveland, OH)
︎ Chris Salas, ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Phera Singh, basket maker (Chicago, IL)
︎ David Sprecher, sculptor (Chicago, IL)
︎ Audrey Todd, outdoor educator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Patrick Wojtak, psychologist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Ji Yang, photographer/filmaker (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jo Covers, ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Sara Zalek, movement artist/musician (Chicago, IL)


access the full CWCW description and application here:
Applications are to assess if
Chop Wood Carry Water’s
lo-fi, land-based structure is a good fit for you.
There is no jurying of your past work.

All genders, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, races, and ethnicities are welcome as Chop Wood Carry Water residents.

 

Chop Wood, Carry Water



a low-fi residency and retreat for thinkers, creatives, and researchers

Chop Wood, Carry Water runs a Spring and a Fall session. There are no residencies in July or August. Only up to 5 people will be in residency/week. This low residency allows for physical distancing as well as the space for people to choose interaction when desired, allowing focus on your practice and process.






Access Description and Application documents below



All genders, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, races, and ethnicities are welcome as Chop Wood Carry Water residents.

Applications are to assess if Chop Wood Carry Water lo-fi land-based residency is a good fit for you. There is no jurying of your past work.


This short and all those below were made by Megan Diddie and Tim Hogan







Artist and curator Ji Yang reflects on his experience at the Chop Wood Carry Water Residency. Yang attended the Fall session of 2022. This lo-fi residency brings together thinkers, artists, and collaborators on Pachamanka, land located in the driftless region of northwestern Illinois. Residents often end their days around a campfire telling stories, sharing a meal, and stargazing.
 


Aya Nakamura (@ayasembe) attended the Chop Wood Carry Water residency in the fall of 2022. In this short, she recounts some of her experiences drawing in the prairie. Nakamura’s drawings are colored pencil on handmade paper of different sizes and shapes. She states, “they have a physicality and assert themselves during the drawing process. They are meditations on death and metaphysics, and provide space for questioning, grief, memorial, humor, and healing.”



Kristin Abhalter Smith talks about the connection between working with the land of Pachamanka and being creative. Abhalter Smith is an artist and the Executive Director of Roman Susan, an art foundation that “celebrates and shares the work of artists in the Great Lakes Region.” She attended the Chop Wood Carry Water Residency in the Fall of 2022.








This is not an art residency. We do not expect you to be an artist. We are interested in a larger definition of what it means to think, make, build and collaborate with land, other humans and living beings. We believe edges and categories of what it means to be creative and how we live in this world are meant to be explored and that this is essential for a new coming together within ourselves and between ourselves.







2021–2024 CWCW resident list

︎ Kristin Abthaler-Smith, builder/gallerist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Gwyneth Zeleny Anderson, animator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Rae Atapka, poet (Lawrence, KS)
︎ Katie Bettin, farmer (Omaha, NE)
︎ Aradia Blackburn, textile artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Lorene Bouboushian, dancer/noise artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Brook Celeste, actor/writer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Anjal Chande, curator/dancer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Lydia Cheshewalla, sculptor (Pawhuska, OK)
︎ Kate Dessofy, dancer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Paul Dickenson, sound artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Megan Diddie, multimedia artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Susannah Donne, florist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Hannah Crea Frink, ceramicist (Bar Harbor, ME)
︎ Miguel Gajdos, designer (New York, NY)
︎ L. Goldstein, poet (Chicago, IL)
︎ Adam Grossi, writer/painter (Reston, VA)
︎ M.B. Hackleman, activist (Joshua Tree, CA)
︎ Carl Harders, herbalist (Los Angeles, CA)
︎ Deirdre Harrison, archivist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Sara Heyman, librarian/curator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jess Hicks, painter/fashion designer (Brooklyn, NY)
︎ Serena Hochoroen, woodworker/animator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Tim Hogan, writer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Anna Ialeggio, performer (Ithaca, NY)
︎ Layne Jackson, painter (Chicago, IL)
︎ Javier Jasso, sculptor/ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jessica Johanson, florist/farmer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Breanne Johnson, furniture maker (Detroit, MI)
︎ Virginia Kennard, performer/dancer (Auckland, NZ)
︎ Jennifer Karmin, poet (Chicago, IL)
︎ Rob Kelly, builder (Chicago, IL)
︎ Liv Koreman, ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jen Langkammer, educator (Milwaukee, WI)
︎ Lucky Li, landscape architect/papermaker (Hartford, CT)
︎ Hope Lian-Vinson, brick maker (Kansas City, MO)
︎ Tanner McCleerey, woodworker/software engineer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Ethan McGinnis, sculptor/installation artist (Boulder, CO)
︎ Cole Murphy, software engineer (Chicago, IL)
︎ Aya Nakamura, painter/papermaker (Chicago, IL)
︎ Paige Naylor, sound artist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Blake Nemec, poet/somatic teacher (Chicago, IL)
︎ Ronan Nigh, fabric artist (Denver, CO)
︎ John O’Malley, carpenter (Chicago, IL)
︎ Julian de Lindgren, illustrator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Parissa Ott, illustrator (Atlanta, GA)
︎ Eugenia Ozerova, ceramicist (Los Angeles, CA)
︎ Elizabeth Phillips, paper maker/illustrator (Brooklyn, NY)
︎ Jeff Prokash, furniture maker (Chicago, IL)
︎ Rae Red, performer/animator (Baltimore, MD)
︎ Megan Robertson, physical therapist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Alyssa Rooks, baker (Madison, WI)
︎ Nathan Rutz, composter (Cleveland, OH)
︎ Chris Salas, ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Phera Singh, basket maker (Chicago, IL)
︎ David Sprecher, sculptor (Chicago, IL)
︎ Audrey Todd, outdoor educator (Chicago, IL)
︎ Patrick Wojtak, psychologist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Ji Yang, photographer/filmaker (Chicago, IL)
︎ Jo Covers, ceramicist (Chicago, IL)
︎ Sara Zalek, movement artist/musician (Chicago, IL)






Access Description and Application documents below

All genders, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, races, and ethnicities are welcome as Chop Wood Carry Water residents.

Applications are to assess if Chop Wood Carry Water lo-fi land-based residency is a good fit for you. There is no jurying of your past work.